Perry family and Kenneth Cope create musical tributes to Joseph

Busy with other projects — including translating many of her songs and CDs into Spanish — Janice Kapp Perry did not plan on doing anything special for Joseph Smith's 200th birthday celebration.

"But we kept getting so many calls about whether we were doing a musical production that wards and stakes could put on during this year that we got busy and did it," she said.

With her son, Steven Kapp Perry, and her daughter, Lynne Perry Christofferson, they have come up with a CD and songbook called "Let the Morning Come: A Musical Celebration of Joseph Smith & the Restoration."

The two-CD set includes both vocal and instrumental performance tracks, and the songbook has a narrative script that could be used for a musical program. Included on the CD are new arrangements for "Oh How Lovely Was the Morning" and "Praise to the Man," as well as seven new songs, such as "We Named Him Joseph," "Waiting for the Light to Shine" and the title cut, which focuses on the life and mission of Joseph Smith.

Although the three Perrys are all prolific and talented musicians in their own right, this is the first time they have collaborated in this way. "Working with my two children was the sweetest thing," said Janice. "To meet and talk about things that mean so much to us on an almost daily basis was special. We had a lot of spiritual moments, but we had a lot of fun, too."

They divided the project up, so each person was responsible for different songs. "But we also had to study, study, study, to write the script," she said.

With everything else they had going on, "none of us really had time for a full project," said Steven. "Working together was the only way we could get it done. But it really came together well."

They decided to give the music an early American feel. "We talked to Greg Hansen about that, and almost overnight he came up with the arrangements. He did a great job," Steven said.

It would have been nice had they started last year, said Janice, because they wanted to get it out early in the year, so people could make plans. That meant an intense, concentrated effort. "But it is a subject we all love and could devote ourselves to easily with all our hearts."

It was a wonderful experience to immerse themselves in the life of this great man, she added. "It's hard to do him justice. But we did our best to come up with something worthy of consideration. All we can do is give one point of view. But if we put it out there, and give people the music, we hope it will give other people something to think about, to appreciate."

• Another special CD project honoring Joseph Smith is a 200th Anniversary edition of Kenneth Cope's "My Servant Joseph."